LONDON COLLECTIONS: TOPMAN DESIGN SS14

Post-punk London meets Nashville dorm rooms in Topman’s spring/summer ‘techno cowboy’ collection and sends us right back to the future. Giddy up.

‘This. Is. Techno. Cowboy.’ Giddy up and dig out your Stetson, kids, and welcome to Topman Design SS14. The opening look set the tone of the show: a white, silky Western-inspired shirt with black floral detailing and contrast piping paired with double pleated high-waisted trousers and metallic brogues and matching belts. What followed was a working and re-working of this theme. The flowers on the shirts segued into spiders and the silky white shirts soon became silky black bomber jackets.

Unusually for the spring/summer shows, the Topman collection didn’t include a single short. Design director Gordon Richardson said he wanted the collection to feel ‘glamorous’ and as part of that shorts were banned in favour of wide-legged trousers and the odd sleeveless gold gilet. ‘Topman is always about realism,’ he said. ‘We’re not here to do crazy designs.’

As a result of this, the line was something we can imagine on countless boys’ backs next spring. Whereas last season was all about block colour and alpine après-skiwear, SS14 was closer to a post-punk London clash with a Nashville dormitory. The whites and burgundies of AW13 were revisited, but the aesthetic was updated with decorated dinner jackets, retro sunglasses and pretty patterned jumpers. It was all very Topman, but it was also all very fabulous.